Miriam Flippo (Cataclysmic Gerosha)
}} Miriam Ann McLaine (née Flippo) / Sniperbadger is a major character in the Gerosha universe of Dozerfleet Comics. She features in the first two parts of both the webcomic trilogy and novel trilogy. She is also a character in Sodality, which partially reinterprets both her personal character and her history. She is a fraternal triplet of Candi Levens and an identical triplet of Marina Baret. She is the daughter of Stan and Shalia Flippo, and becomes the mother of Marie, Trina, and Larry McLaine. She also becomes the wife of adventurer/scientist Steve McLaine. While her sisters tend to go for men about the same size and morality level as themselves, Miriam's inclinations toward hybristophilia have led to her dating such dangerous men as the Purge-Flare, Tamperwolf, and Black Rat, before meeting Steve and marrying him. A skilled hacktivist going by the alias "Sniperbadger", Miriam was, for a time, a member of a band of similarly-skilled hacktivists called the Critter Resistance Network - with members being named after different animals. In spite the good deeds of the initial CRN, their being hijacked by DeathDachshund in Sniperbadger: Fall of the Critter Resistance leads to the entire group being viewed as cyber-terrorists. This, among other things, leads to Miriam being a wanted fugitive around the world. Her involvement with the Purge-Flare in Ciem: Inferno also leads to Miriam being sent to juvenile detention for 2 years. She attempts to retire from being Sniperbadger, but is called out of retirement during the events in Sodality. This eventually leads to her becoming gang-pressed into working for the Chinese MSS as part of Team Black Rat, where she is able to meet her future husband and finally settle down. In the concept art for Sodality, she has been portrayed by models from The Sims 3 and The Sims 4, and by DeviantArt artist and model Lee Loo La. For a time, she was portrayed by Indonesian model Nanda Soebagio also. Lee portrayed Candi and Marina as well, from 2015 until 2019. Character bio Note: The following narrative is specific to Cataclysmic Gerosha. See below for explanations of how previous narratives differ. The early life and times of Miriam are fairly consistent throughout all of her five main interpretations. The greatest deviation in her narrative comes in Sodality, where the terms of how and where she flees from Gerosha are changed. Also changed is the nature of how her boyfriend, Phil Couric, meets his untimely end. She is something of a foil to her sister Candi. This is especially true of the Earth-G7 version of Candi; but is true of earlier versions as well. While Candi is at times religious and is usually somewhat modest, Miriam was treated worse than Candi by their older sister Erin. This led to a desire to rebel, making Miriam more susceptible to worldly temptations. As a result, she became something of a "bad girl" when compared to Candi's fairly conservative demeanor. In spite this, she harbored no resentment toward Candi. In fact, Candi often came to Miriam's aid when Erin would go too far. Miriam has described Candi at times as being "like a second conscience," keeping both Erin and Miriam from going over the edge with their character flaws. Candi and Miriam remained closest of friends, even after Marina left and after separated from each other for several months with no contact. In earlier versions she was, like Candi, under the Curse of Honeybee Samuel. Said curse made self-control near-impossible. This is not a major plot point in Cataclysmic Gerosha, since her ancestor Sam Wrikon never became Honeybee Samuel in the Cataclysmic universe. By extension, the Meshalutian Trilogy and its continuity are no longer canon in Sodality. Instead, repeated harassment and mistreatment from peers at school is part of why Miriam has her personality flaws. Miriam is a fraternal triplet with Candi and Marina. Like with Marina, the Centhuen Prototype gene sequences remained dormant in her, preventing her from manifesting the way Candi did. However, she did acquire a lot of intelligence from her mother Shalia. She chose to apply this to become fluent at the art of computer hacking. Early life Miriam grew up in her earliest years as being like Candi in almost every way. Along with Marina, the triplets were sweet and innocent. The family situation seemed almost perfect. However, Stan and Shalia grew too comfortable in their assumption that the Hebbleskins were truly gone. In 2006, a young Gunner Soorfelt changed all that by going along with his mentor on a mission to assassinate Stan and Shalia. Their initial plan botched, and they settled for running the couple off the road. This secondary plan proved successful, and the founders of Gerosha were reported dead. They wanted to cut up Stan and collect Shalia's head; but police were closing in too quickly. Reily refused to assume custody of his young sisters, since they were even younger than his own son Kirby. Therefore, custody fell on a reluctant Erin Flippo. The wealthy-yet-eccentric Japanese inventor Imaki Izuki became Candi's godfather after befriending Stan and Shalia in the earliest months of Candi's life. He decided to set up base in Gerosha so as to become a sort of "uncle" figure to Candi. In this way, he helped ease a fraction of Erin's burden of promotion to parental figure by assuming joint custody of Candi. All the girls were psychologically damaged by the senseless murder of their parents. However, Miriam took it the hardest. She was always the one who knew how to get her mother's attention the most efficiently; but she couldn't manipulate death to get what she wanted. Life with Erin brought a lot of changes in the girls' lives, and Miriam was the slowest to adjust. Imaki tried to reach out to her too; but they never bonded the way Candi bonded with Imaki. Miriam gained a love of machines early on, leading to her eventually becoming the hacker Sniperbadger. She found that at least the machines could be bent to her will. She grew confident that even if she was not to be allowed to have her way with anything else, at least she could get the machines to do her bidding. High school Miriam attended the same schools as did Candi and Marina, and had the same catechism instruction at church. The three girls were confirmed at the same time. Unlike Marina, Candi and Miriam pressed for harder examination questions before being confirmed. They wanted to give better-thought-out answers than what was deemed standard fare for confirmands. None of the three girls took it to heart more than Candi. The girls soon left eighth grade, leaving their horrible nightmares of Gerosha Middle School behind. However, they found Gerosha High to be much worse. What they had learned would be put to the test on a regular basis. Of the three triplets, Miriam was the least happy about moving in with Erin. She claimed to envy Candi's situation. Erin responded by being the harshest on Miriam, even when advised by Candi and Imaki not to. Over time, however, Erin eased up on Miriam and began being hard on Marina instead. Erin slowly developed a chemical imbalance in her brain, leading to mental and emotional instability as well as violent mood swings. Stress at school was made worse when the new politically-correct faculty began aggressively persecuting the girls for not playing along with the state-sponsored ideology. They didn't do much to fight back, since they feared it'd draw the Hebbleskins in. However, the girls' torment was made worse when the teachers started encouraging students who didn't share the girls' views to retaliate with sexual harassment. After Candi and Marina were raped, they both developed a strong desire to replace their negative experiences with positive ones. Marina took matters into her own hands, and numerous boys at school began taking advantage of her. This came back to haunt Miriam, as the boys had trouble telling the sisters apart. As the growing persecution of Marina unfolded, Candi and Miriam started taking the fall for some of her transgressions amongst peers - while trying to keep Erin in the dark. The three girls did what they could to shelter Erin from the fact that her younger sisters' reputations were ruined. Erin's deteriorating mental health led to strained relations with all three of her sisters, in spite not knowing the truth about how many rumors spread about the girls. However, Marina eventually entered a committed relationship with Matt Baret - the one boy was wasn't simply taking advantage of her. He saw writing on the wall with Obama's re-election, and wanted to help his family liquidate assets in their car dealership and flee the country. Marina got pregnant via Matt, and quickly experienced Erin's wrath. The result was Candi and Miriam not being trusted with whom they dated. While Candi aimed to negotiate peace, Miriam quickly grew fed up with how Erin was treating her. She began dating Phil Couric, the only boy at school that repeatedly stood up for her - even at his own expense. As the nation was split in four following an ISIS invasion led by Halal Affadidah, Phil and Miriam readily saw writing on the wall as well. Miriam got a scholarship to study advanced programming in Hong Kong - and gladly pursued it. She moved in with Phil's family, even though Candi and Imaki advised against it. ''Inferno'' Main article: Ciem: Inferno Before she met Phil, Miriam tried to bury her resentment and bitterness about her life in aiding the Critter Resistance Network, a band of online vigilante hackers/crackers with libertarian views and animal aliases. Under the guidance of 19-year-old Ricky "Tamperwolf" Lomington, Miriam quickly proved herself the best of the best. She adopted the alias of "Sniperbadger." Realizing her own activities in Imaki's test centipede costumes meant she had no room to complain, Candi decided to support Miriam's personal quests to bring about cyber justice. The sisters made a pact to protect each other's activities from being noticed by the law for as long as possible. In 2015, however, things grew very chaotic in Gerosha. A band of troublemakers called the Pyro Panthers began starting random fires across town. While irritated by a proto-Ciem interfering with their schemes periodically, they persisted in recruiting troubled teens and in targeting new places in town for their anarchistic reign of terror. Miriam and her Critter Resistance friends did what they could to expose those Panthers they were able to; but they soon discovered that the Panthers were making allies with Gleeful-N'-Young's Frank Morvel. Morvel introduced the Meethexo Lava Tigre, who promised to protect the Panthers from cops provided they started also abducting women for Clyde Spendelworth. With his friend on comms having recently been murdered, an angry Chris Kennal heads into town to exact some revenge on this Hebbleskin connection. A news clip warns that too many more attacks, and the city will be in a state of emergency. The Panthers suddenly begin carrying out abductions, as well as starting fires with the aid of bazookas and bombs they didn't previously have. This means a new curfew of 5:00 PM would be set for all teens in Gerosha. Miriam forgets to warn Candi of the new curfew, but is thankful that Candi helps Miriam hide her laptop during a police raid of their house that ensues when Erin's house becomes a target of Pyro Panther aggression. At that point, Miriam is most concerned about being indicted for being Sniperbadger. With both Erin and Imaki out of town, and Marina trying out to join an indie rock band for a tour, Candi and Miriam realize that they need each other more than ever to find a solution. However, Tamperwolf and DeathDachshund suggest to Miriam that the recently-spotted "Extirpon knock-off" rumored to be in the area could be of use - if they could find some way to convince him to work with Miriam. Miriam tells her friends she has to think about it, as she is worried about the prospect of getting herself involved with an Extirpon copycat. The following afternoon, October 15th of 2015, Candi is talked into going over to the Loffin house by Danny, her secret boyfriend at Gerosha High. The two begin by studying, but give in to each other's charms and wind up having sex. Roger, Danny's older brother, is the only other Loffin home. The parents are away at a job interview in Oregon. After Roger has an altercation with some Panthers at a store, he is worried they will target his house. He heads home only to find that his house and many others are being shot at, and that the neighborhood has quickly become a war zone. Police attempt to round up Panthers, but Lava Tigre intervenes. Roger arrives just in time to catch Danny and Candi putting their shirts back on, and scolds them before escaping into the back yard with them. Candi initially plans on following Roger and Danny to the motel that Roger had in mind, but then veers off a different direction amidst the chaos and heads toward a grocery store to change into her costume. Candi is unable to change before three officers drive up next to her and confront her about her possession of a Zeran wardrobe. She argues with the officer briefly when they mistake her for a Pyro Panther, but decides she will have a better chance to explain her story if in custody and surrenders. News the following evening alerts Danny and Miriam that Candi has been arrested, and the two of them head over to the police station as soon as they find it safe to do so in order to contact Candi. She informs them of how dire the situation is - and how her slip-up in revealing the existence of Zeran wardrobes means she's in serious trouble. She urges them to lay low, or get creative to find a way to stop the Panthers without her. Candi is arraigned the following day, and sent as a temporary to Madison Juvenile Correctional for 8 days until her trial on arson charges. She is informed during the arraignment that an additional trial for her leaking of top secret SCALLOP information will be set for her on a later date. Frustrated that Candi is in prison, Miriam and Danny decide to go along with Tamperwolf's suggestion and recruit the Extirpon copycat. Danny apologizes to Miriam for seducing Candi; but Miriam informs him that they have bigger things to worry about now. Miriam attempts to locate the imitator, and eventually manages to hack into his van's systems and steal data on him. Miriam learns that the impersonator is really Chris Kennal - the "Purge-Flare." She negotiates with him and promises to meet him in person at a location they would agree to, so that Chris could get some replenished supplies and hide from cops in-between his Purge-Flare battles. Miriam's plan works at first, but Chris proves paranoid when she arrives. He kidnaps her at gunpoint, and she directs him to her house in a bid to earn his trust. Chris initially also abducts Danny, but then agrees to let him go on condition that Danny agree to a vow of silence. Miriam and Chris begin talking, and learn more from each other about Lava Tigre and the Hebbleskins. They start plotting how they are going to equip Chris to be better able to take on the new menace - and avoid the police. While Candi attempts to cope with a week in Madison - and stop Amirah from being a bully - Chris teaches Miriam how to fight and use weapons. The two find an inherent charm in one another, though Chris remains guarded as Miriam is half his age. Lava Tigre assaults city hall at one point, taking the mayor's daughter hostage. This leads to Chris and Miriam breaking into a science and weapons lab and stealing the equipment needed to make more Purge-Flare supplies. Several Pyro Panthers try to take down the costume-free Chris and Miriam, yet the two prove to be able side-by-side to take down their enemies. The escape with as many supplies as they can, though a bullet nicks Chris' right arm. Miriam, in spite lacking a driver's license, drives his getaway van. The two are able to avoid both cops and potential gang members pursuing them. Miriam then addresses Chris' wound. The two set to work making more supplies and fixing Chris' flamethrowers. They call it a night as they see another building burn in the distance. A police car goes past the house with lights on, scaring Miriam. However, Chris assures her that he won't let them do anything to her if they stop and come looking. The two get lost in each other's glance, and end up having sex. They awake the next day, regretting what they'd done yet determined to complete their mission. Miriam begins running comms for Chris as he resumes being the Purge-Flare. The two begin to discuss the possibility of her running away with him, though they eventually agree it would be a foolish idea. Chris objects that Miriam deserves to be with someone closer to her in age. The duo continue their crusade until Lava Tigre manages to break one of the Purge-Flare's flamethrowers after catching Chris offguard, forcing a retreat. Candi gets out of prison then - however briefly after being acquitted of the arson charges - and helps turn the tide. With Candi's indirect help, Chris is able to defeat Lava Tigre while she saves the hostages. Miriam greets Chris on the battlefield following Lava Tigre's defeat, and passionately makes out with him to say goodbye as he prepares to leave town. They leave each other souvenirs to remember each other by, and Miriam fakes being knocked out long enough for Chris to flee Gerosha. After this, Miriam helps Candi get back home safely and with minimal detection. Imaki arrives back in Gerosha and inquires what the girls have been up to. He promises to help them with explaining the situation to Erin - whom the girls fear will explode upon learning how much trouble they are in. The plan works, and Erin proves more angry with Marina for joining a rock band. Candi's trial in November over the Zeran wardrobe reveal debacle pits Darius and Reily against Erin and Imaki in court, with Candi agreeing to spend a month at Madison in order to end her family's civil war before it gets out of hand. Judge Deckinson agrees to the barter, and Candi agrees to surrender on December 14th. Miriam learns in December, however, that a manhunt has been started for the sidekick of the Extirpon copycat. Erin suggests letting Candi take the fall for that too; but Miriam objects to that, saying the Purge-Flare is her responsibility. Miriam informs the Critter Resistance that she has to go away for a while, and they agree they must find a way to carry on without her. She writes up a confession letter; careful to not indict Candi, Danny, or her Critter Resistance friends nor admit outright that she's Sniperbadger. Miriam goes with Candi to turn herself in, and points to the SCALLOP-like nature of her situation as grounds for requesting a 2-week special. She states she would prefer not to have any innocent parties get blamed for her involvement with Chris. Miriam is quickly arrested and booked. She is initially granted a 2-week special - at the Warrick County Jail. She attempts to serve her time as quietly as possible, relieved that at the very least, she saved thousands from Hebbleskin tyranny by what she did with Chris. However, she knows the Hebbleskins will be back for revenge. Turning against old friends Main article: Sniperbadger: Fall of the Critter Resistance During a tearful exchange in a brief visit, Miriam learns the truth about Candi's miscarriage. The sisters pray together, vowing to keep it a secret from Erin. As Candi learns, her month-long stay gets extended into a more complicated sentence. She'll be denied spring break and summer, having to spend those in Madison. She is to be let out on a S'Poling tether during regular school sessions so she doesn't miss school. Meanwhile, Miriam tries to bide her time during her 2-week special at the Warrick County Jail. However, the absence of Sniperbadger leads to DeathDachshund and others starting a civil war within the Critter Resistance Network, over differences in political philosophy. With Sniperbadger in jail, DeathDachshund decides to lead his secret follower anarchists on a quest to destroy the Pentagon - as well as SCALLOP and a variety of other targets that not everyone in the CRN believes deserve to be attacked. Tamperwolf finds himself ousted by DeathDachshund's followers. Before too long, a US naval base in Louisiana finds itself under attack from terrorists that know the entire base's layout. Hackers are blamed, but DeathDachshund's team is not identified. The news break about it, however, results in the Purge-Flare no longer being front page news - to Miriam's relief. As Miriam and "Lindsay the Snake" become friends behind bars, Tamperwolf turns himself in to SCALLOP. He sells out Miriam, in exchange for leniency for himself. Miriam is approached before her 2-week special is up, and informed that her hacking activities have been exposed. However, they will conceal her identity as Sniperbadger to the world on one condition: she go to work for SCALLOP for 8 months, on their terms. When informed of DeathDachshund's revolt, Miriam agrees to the terms. She says goodbye to her family and to Lindsay, promising to touch base with Lindsay again as soon as possible. After being briefed on what's happening, Miriam is set up at SCALLOP Juvenile Containment Center with a customized office to fight back against DeathDachshund and the other CRN members. Tamperwolf agrees to work alongside her; and the two of them begin to have feelings for one another. Their relationship is further blossomed by virtue of the fact that SJCC staff does a terrible job separating male and female prisoners. After defeating DeathDachshund, the two are allowed to remain together until late August of 2016. Tamperwolf decides to take the majority blame for the fact that Miriam was part of the Critter Resistance Network at one point in time, ensuring that he'd be staying with SCALLOP for a long time. He decides that doing this will allow Miriam to avoid serving any additional time, allowing her a chance to return home and live a normal life. Sensing all along that he was not the one, Miriam agrees to this deal. She does inform him that she will miss him. He asks her to find a man equally dedicated, and she assures him that she will. She points out how similar her relationship with Tamperwolf is to Candi's with Danny. A few months after this, she meets Phil Couric for the first time. It takes little time before the two become lovers. After Erin kicks Marina out of the house, Miriam rebels and moves in with Phil. Escape from Ameristan and Phil's death Phil's family, to put Candi and Imaki's minds partially at ease, made sure that Miriam and Phil had separate bedrooms. However, Phil's parents are murdered brutally by Affadidah's regime at one point; leaving the two mostly unsupervised. They were initially like Candi and Donte; sneaking in opportunities to indulge in each other, but determining afterward that they would play by the rules. Phil's parents' deaths adversely affected him, and Miriam's inability to say no to him meant that their standards with each other loosened significantly. The only thing keeping them from messing around more often, some days, was their being fugitives to the new regime. This meant they had to devote most of their time to plotting their escape, future life, marriage plans, basic survival needs, and how to avoid capture. '' version of Miriam cradling a lifeless Phil Couric after they are run off the road by Hebbleskins. Original photo here. 3D views: • .]] • ]] In spite their best intentions with their original arrangement, it was short-lived. Phil's family, being black and conservative, was readily targeted by the new regime for extermination. It was deemed a "political anomaly" that had "no right to exist." Phil and Miriam soon found themselves as homeless freedom fighters, moving from place to place with a resistance force against the Ameristani dictator, Halal Affadidah. They determined that they would marry officially once they'd set foot in Hong Kong, as eloping in Ameristan had become a very dangerous thing to do. (Candi and Donte had to pretend not to be married; while Dolly was nearly executed for marrying Jeraime.) Phil and Miriam assist in developing the Exodus Agenda. Imaki begins work on his own part of Exodus, as the regime persistently reneged on its promise of safe passage of registered Toklisanans out of Ameristan. What Miriam didn't count on was the full extent to which the Ameristani regime had gotten in bed with the Hebbleskin Gang. She used her "Sniperbadger" online identity, and her associated hacking talents, to create a breach in "the Wall," a force shield that kept anyone from crossing the border and leaving Ameristan. She and Phil had to stop in Chicago for a short time, and then they were able to make their way to Nebraska where the Wall was erected. No sooner did Miriam work her online magic and flee the scene with Phil than Gunner and Skellig spotted them. A car chase developed, which led to Phil and Miriam being run off the road. Ameristani police began to chase the murderers down when they witnessed a Muslim man's car get damaged in the initial chase. Miriam survived the crash; Phil didn't. Devastated, she dumped his body in a pond and fled on foot across the border. She traveled to Chimerican California with the help of a few other survivors. Alas, most of her company didn't make it across the border alive. Miriam was unable to secure a ticket to a cruise ship to Hawaii while in Chimerican California. However, she was able to bribe a cruise ship captain's son by prostituting herself to him in exchange for him stowing her away. She remains in Hawaii just long enough to collect her inheritance money, per designations set forward in advance by Stan and Shalia. From there, she flies to Hong Kong and assumes a new identity of "Haishui." Impressment after outing herself as Sniperbadger. Original quality here. 3D views: • ]] recruits Miriam to the Chinese MSS. Original quality here. 3D views: • ]] "Hǎishuǐ," spends her first month or so in hiding in Hong Kong. In spite her personal wealth, she takes a lowly job as a shelf stocker for a pharmacy, as a means of laying low. She buys fake glasses and adopts a new wardrobe to further disguise her true identity. She attempts to date a tattoo artist, who gives her several tattoos. However, she soon runs into trouble when she uncovers Hebbleskins in her neighborhood. She grows desperate for help, and lonely. When her employer ignores her warnings, he pays with his life. This, and her new boyfriend's family being attacked, convince Miriam that the Hebbleskins know her real identity. She breaks up with him and states that she needs to get to Shanghai. He helps her smuggle herself into town, then leaves her to figure out what to do next. She heads over to the police in Shanghai, hijacking their video feeds to out herself as Sniperbadger and requesting to speak to the MSS about the growing Hebbleskin threat. Police initially believe "Hǎishuǐ" is a crazy woman, until Miriam removes her disguise and reveals to them that she is clearly not Chinese. Once they realize what is really going on, they aggressively confront and arrest her. The police chief promises her that she will get her interview with the MSS. Agent Stung Hornet is sent to interview Miriam, and isn't long before Miriam is recruited to "Team Black Rat" - a special team assigned specifically to aid in countering Hebbleskin activity. In addition to Stung Hornet, she gains teammates Black Rat, Tin Dragon, and Teal Hog. She has a brief affair with Black Rat; but decides against pursuing anything further with him. She begins receiving aid in her hacking missions from a scientist named "Guan." Several missions go by, and Stung Hornet decides the time has come for "Guan" and Miriam to meet. Guan reveals himself to be Steve McLaine, another American living in exile. A romance soon develops between Miriam and Steve. Miriam and her friends spend a good deal of time season 2 of Sodality trying to eradicate a Hebbleskin operation in Harbin. Relocation to Alaska , Black Rat, Stung Hornet, Tin Dragon, and Teal Hog, preparing for an assault on a Hebbleskin operation in Harbin.]] The team is later re-assigned to monitor a research station in Alaska. Rumor has it that Russian spies have been plotting to take over the station, and eventually reclaim Alaska for Russia. Safely back on the North American continent, Miriam begins to establish regular contact with Candi. The team takes refuge in the fact that their work in Alaska is not nearly as busy as in Hong Kong. One of the team's biggest challenges involves overcoming Melvin Markus, a Hebbleskin-affiliated hacker whose skills rival those of Miriam. Their cyber-war eventually erupts into a real conflict. Teal Hog is injured, though not killed, battling the Hebblekins when they launch an assault on the research station. Married life and children to take down Captain Aardwulf. (Michelle not pictured, but was also present.)]] Miriam and the team are called to embark on a dangerous mission to Toklisana, when it's revealed that the Ming-Yo has wound up in the hands of a madman known as "Captain Aardwulf." On the way down, Miriam reveals to Steve that she's pregnant. Their helicopter is crashed at one point. Tin Dragon and Teal Hog are killed, while the others are forced to take cover and nurse their injuries. Miriam and company end up having to join forces with the Sodality of Gerosha to defeat Capp Aard. Candi and Donte travel back to Alaska to visit, though Candi does so with a S'Poling tether on her ankle given that she got in some amount of trouble battling Senator Gobar's rogue forces. Miriam is also introduced to Forked Tiger, Scratched Hen, and Michelle Winston - the last one of these having filled in as Ciem when Candi was too pregnant. Steve and Miriam get married a short while after their mission in Toklisana ends. Black Rat and Stung Hornet are sent back to China, with Forked Tiger and Scratched Hen put in charge of watching over the McLaine family. Steve and Miriam settle down in the research facility, turning it into their home. Miriam semi-retires from hacking in order to raise the children, while Steve becomes a full time scientist. She becomes the mother of twins Marie and Trina McLaine, who develop music talents later on in life. Her son Larry McLaine is born some time later. ''Vindication'' Main article: Sodality: Vindication During the Vindication story arc, the enforcement of Beliah's amendments to the Kirby Act put the entire Sodality in danger. Miriam was listed among the names of persons of interest that SCALLOP was being pressured to take into custody. However, Forked Tiger and Scratched Hen intercept communications and learn of the plot to have Miriam arrested. They smuggle her and her family back to China to hide. Mingmei is pressured to go to Alaska and take Miriam's place at SWCC, a mission which she accepts in spite knowing she might not survive the mission. All throughout Team Caged Dove's missions, Mingmei assumes a leadership position and puts up with the abuse that was nearly Miriam's burden to bear. The McLaines, after the political mess is mostly cleaned up, help their Sodality friends to stage with SCALLOP a public funeral; aiding Mingmei in faking her own death so she can return to China and marry Shing. Percolation Warriors In the Percolation Warriors Saga, the Earth-G7.2.1 version of Miriam is recruited to assist the Percolation Warriors on a mission. She is assigned to the sub-task force within dubbed "Team F-Pod," due to her history with the law. She finds herself with her sister and with fellow Sodality members Hea Pang and Tabitha Pang in Team F-Pod. Also joining them are Lemon Witch, Maddening Rod, Semaphore, Gummibabe, Stacey Calisome, Kayla Tarington, and Xira. Personality and Miriam Flippo on the second floor of a fire station near Chicago, prepared for the worst as regime guards venture near. Original quality here. 3D views: • ]] True to the Hebrew meaning of her name, Miriam tends to harbor bitterness. She is not, however, as bitter as Jeral Cormier. She is very pragmatic in some incarnations, while insecure in others. She often fights to have a situation in her life that she can fully control, becoming flustered when in scenarios where she has no control. Her degree of respect for herself varies from one version of the Gerosha universe to the next. She is generally playful, but can be very vindictive if forced to be. She was generally quite helpless in her original incarnation. However, she was later interpreted to be quite adept at a variety of tasks besides hacking machines. Her snarky demeanor as a teen gradually fades, but does rub off on others. In Sodality, she is also able to learn Chinese rather quickly. Her skills at espionage, and determination to bring down the Hebbleskin Gang, rival those of her sister Candi. In fact, Miriam and Phil were the first to lead a small band of resistance to the Ameristani regime across "the Wall," making her an even more-determined freedom fighter in some respects than Candi. She goes about her quest to defeat the Hebbleskins in a different way than her sister, since she doesn't have the centipede powers. She is shown in this version to be skilled with negotiations also. In spite being considerably more competent at far more life skills than her predecessors, Cataclysmic Miriam is the most child-like in both appearance and in overall emotional maturity. She clings to Stung Hornet like a small child in search of a mother. She gains a little more adult confidence after meeting Steve, who challenges her to put aside her past demons. Her "Haishui" alias, in which she adopts mannerisms more confined than her usual personality, was inspired by Dakota Fanning in the film Push. That film is also a major inspiration behind why Miriam chooses to hide from the world by living in Hong Kong. Her discovery of Hebbleskin activity leads to her drawing attention from the Chinese Ministry of State Security, which leads to her eventually conducting missions in mainland China. Aside from Cataclysmic Miriam, Classic Miriam is probably the most willing to resort to ethically-questionable methods of fighting or fleeing danger. Preliminary work for Ciem 2 had her showing no hesitation whatsoever at stealing a car, when it suited her and Candi's need to escape a burning city. She also hits Captain Aardwulf with it, doing more damage to him than any of Candi's maneuvers. Miriam is more manipulative and pragmatic than Candi as well, becoming adept at getting what she wants. She's also more open and honest with herself about her insatiable sexual desires, less ashamed to admit the lengths she'll go to in order to satisfy her cravings. However, this means she ends up in more trouble; brought on by her more-carefree attitude. Unlike Candi, who feels that her calling gives her an extra-special reason to have better self-control than Marina; Miriam feels forgotten, and devoid of most obligations. She soon realizes what a prodigal this makes her, and starts correcting course after some time dating Steve. This is especially true of Comprehensive Miriam, who takes things to the greatest extremes of any incarnation. Unlike Candi, who tends to fall for men she believes would make caring husbands, Miriam's romantic priorities a less mature. She has a thing for bad boys that further complicates her life. Her admiration for Tamperwolf shows her starting to take a turn for finding men who are more responsible, as Chris proves to be the worst mistake of her life. Phil is a further step in the right direction. Steve represents Miriam's tastes in men finally growing sufficiently mature. Miriam is sultry, passionate about what (and whom) she loves and believes in, and quite adept at survival - in nearly all versions. However, the trouble she gets herself into becomes a reminder to Candi of what could happen if Candi lets herself stray that far. And in spite handling herself in a reasonably more conservative manner, Candi is worried that she has often come too close to taking after Miriam in the worst ways. While Candi tends to be haunted by and greatly ashamed of her prison record, Miriam has a more relaxed attitude about her even-worse reputation. In spite her pragmatic approach to things, Miriam shares Candi's fierce sense of loyalty to loved ones. This is why she defends Chris even when it is not in her best interests; and is hesitant to let Tamperwolf take the fall for most of her Sniperbadger activities. For this same reason, she turns herself in to Gerosha police; rather than let them blame Candi for Miriam's activities with Chris. Miriam also agrees for this reason to let some of the students that already resent her at Gerosha High accuse her of some of Marina's sexual exploits. Her refusal to betray Team Black Rat touches Mingmei, inspiring Mingmei to return the favor by taking Miriam's place at SWCC. Miriam's sense of fashion is considerably different from that of her sisters. Whereas Candi likes to wear simple, comfortable clothes in civilian form and Marina aims for a "hipster" aesthetic, Miriam prefers to wear khakis and black tops. She is often seen wearing her black Detroit Tigers baseball cap, and she also likes wearing Snakes on a Plane T-shirts. However, she has also worn Sharknado-themed shirts. She is sometimes teased about this; that she's doing a terrible job of hiding the fact that she's a "black hat." Development Earlier versions Gerosha Prime The character of Miriam was first envisioned in Gerosha Prime, at the end of production for the 2005 version of The Battle for Gerosha. Her name, and partially also her appearance, were inspired by the Dreamworks version of Moses' sister. Her personality was somewhat modeled on that of Sandra Bullock playing the role of Angela Bennet in The Net. version of Ciem 2.]] The Sims used for Stan and Shalia Flippo were given the Family Aspiration in The Sims 2, so the game was bent over backwards with hacks and cheats to fulfill this wish, before Stan and Shalia had to be killed off to make room for others on the lot. The PC in use was an HP Pavilion 8700 from 2000, which barely had enough processing power to handle Sims 2. The game decided not to count the wish as granted, due to the fact that only nine of Stan's ten children were with Shalia. The backstory about Ploribus/Darius being born of Insila Murtillo, and the half-cloning, was a cover for the fact that Stan was abducted in the original game. Abducted male Sims had a high probability of arriving back on their lots as "impregnated by aliens." There weren't the necessary tools installed to abort the narrative, so Stan wound up having a baby that was originally named Ploribus. Ploribus was then rapidly aged up using cheats, so he could be moved off the lot. He was not originally going to have any role at all in The Battle for Gerosha, but was assigned one later on anyway. Battle for Gerosha was written with the initial goal of the Dozerfleet founder familiarizing himself with how to use the game's controls to make any DSHW he so desired. After Candi was born to Shalia using the InSimenator, Miriam and Marina were born as twins. This was retconnned in the story are the three being triplets. Initially, there was only a desire to develop Reily as a character. However, Candi seemed to be an interesting challenge as a character that could be developed into something far more interesting than Reily. Therefore, plans for a sequel involving Reily and his family were scrapped. the 2005 version of Ciem switched the focus to Stan and Shalia's daughter. It was mentioned that Candi had sisters in the form of Miriam and Marina. The story began by alluding to Erin, first mentioned earlier in Battle for Gerosha, being murdered. There were plans to include Miriam in that original comic, and show her interacting with Candi. Those plans didn't materialize. Instead, Miriam was brought back as one of the main characters for the 2005 version of Ciem 2. She was shown as cohabiting with Steve McLaine, revealing that she was affected by the family's tragedies worse than Candi was. As a result, Miriam became a foil of Candi. She made a lot of the wrong choices in life, becoming a frame of reference for Candi as to which choices she should avoid making in her own life. Miriam's "Sniperbadger" alias was first alluded to as "Snipebadger89" in Gerosha Prime. Melvin Markus, her archenemy, also debuted. Little was made of her hacker lifestyle, except when it was most-critically plot-relevant. She was retired from the plot almost immediately after Ciem 2, due to a lack of understanding at the time of how best to utilize her in the story. It was customary in 2005 that all characters not killed by the plot were to be retired from it happily. This included building homes, marrying off characters, and giving them children. Therefore, Miriam was given the twins Marie and Trina. Larry was a randomly-generated third child before the McLaine family was completely sent away. Despair Gerosha • ]] The 2006 version of Ciem was the first time that Miriam and Candi's years living with Erin were explored in any real detail. Miriam's role as Sniperbadger was expanded on, and she was seen carrying out hacking activities even before she and Candi went separate ways. Her relationship with Phil Couric was established in this version. However, he was little more than an ex mentioned offscreen, who committed suicide much to Miriam's grief. Other details were scarce. Much like with Gerosha Prime, this version of Miriam completely disappears from the story afterward. She was to pop up again for Ciem 2, with more detail put into her relationship with Steve. Classic Gerosha Classic Miriam expanded on the Despair Miriam's template, explaining that Phil drowned himself. Visuals are given of her past relationship with Phil, including how they got a hotel room in Canada. She actually confesses her relationship and details of it to her sisters, unable to keep it a secret to herself any longer. More emphasis was put into showing that she and Candi were best friends. This is the first version to explicitly state that at a party, she was arrested. The reason given in this version was that she was rounded up "for her own protection." She is able to leave the next day, and spends some time at Farrenville Community College before moving to Alaska. She ends up in a relationship with Steve McLaine a short time later. However, Melvin Markus frames her for hacking China's state department databases. Steve heads to China to clear her name, while she heads to Indiana to find Candi and stay safe. Agents Black Rat and Tin Dragon were sent to hunt her. So also was being pursued by a CIA operative named Vienna Dockler. The death of Captain Aardwulf results in her name being cleared, and she goes off to live happily with Steve in Alaska. Unlike Sodality, where she lives out the rest of her days in a natural manner, she is murdered at the age of 53 in this version. Her children move to Gerosha, and become characters in Ciem Tomorrow. Mistakenly believing that the "liPo" prophecy referred to the Flippos, Duke Arfaas orders as his lifelong and dying wish that all the heads of Shalia's daughters be collected as trophies and put in a Meethlite museum. He eventually gets his wish. While Candi and Marina are executed on the chopping block, Miriam gets the guillotine. Comprehensive Gerosha This version bridges the gap between Miriam as understood in Classic Gerosha and Miriam as understood in Cataclysmic Gerosha. Her situation growing up under Erin, combined with being under the Curse of Honeybee Samuel, resulted in Miriam having many problems with substance and sexual abuse in this universe. Instead of Phil committing outright suicide, he leaps into the river to keep vital secret information from falling into Hebbleskin hands. His sacrifice, however, takes a devastating emotional toll on Miriam. Her aggressive Sniperbadger career becomes a means of coping with loss. Erin never does figure out that Miriam has slept with Phil in this version, though she begins to suspect. Miriam's party girl ways in high school in Classic Gerosha are played up in this version, complete with her showing a lack of common sense in her trip to the house where the party is held. While the Hebbleskins do still launch a raid outside, the police are called in because of a noise complaint. They discover that Miriam has been stabbed in the back with a syringe, filling her with a drug that lowers her inhibitions. Kenny Corsillo, who graduated with her from Gerosha High, takes advantage by dragging her to an upstairs bedroom. She is discovered by police while having sex with Kenny, and both are arrested. Darius Philippine, her half-brother, negotiates for her freedom. He also mandates that she move to Alaska and start her life over. In spite the money, Miriam is very lonely in Alaska. The realization of what has been done to her and her way of life - including Gunner's murder of Erin - causes her self-control and self-esteem to spiral downward radically. She takes a job as a stripper named "Mila Fila," until she finds it too degrading. She ends up having four one night stands at various points to cope with her loneliness better. However, she eventually meets scientist-adventurer Steve McLaine. It is not long before she moves in with him, and becomes part of his research team. Her software expertise makes her highly valuable. While Steve wants to fix her, his own lack of self-control does nothing for her struggles with sexual addiction. She acquires her tattoos as part of her inner rebellion against the highly-restricted life she led under Erin's house. Steve and Miriam do realize that their antics have gotten out of hand when a man that Steve thought was a friend begins hiding cameras around their house, and filming porn videos of them without their knowledge. "Mila Fila" soon becomes a famous porn star, and the couple strives to shut down the business that they accidentally generated before the Hebbleskins get wise to Mila Fila's true identity. Otherwise, the narrative of Miriam's life proves near-identical to her Classic Gerosha narrative. Even the description of her eventual death is similar. Miriam's messy life in this version was to serve as a reminder to Candi of how serious a calling Candi has to make better choices in the same narrative. Visual evolution Miriam was first depicted with The Sims 2 in late May of 2005, around the time that The Battle for Gerosha was written. She was depicted as having fair skin, since the game decided to choose between Stan and Shalia rather than blending their genes together. She also wound up with Stan's gray eyes. She also originally had blonde hair, since the game chose between Stan's blonde hairstyle and Shalia's red one. Since Shalia's hairstyle was supposed to be a dye, her character file was edited to have black hair. Likewise, Candi first manifested with red hair due to being from Shalia. Her hair color also had to be edited to make it that she's naturally black-haired. Like Miriam, Candi also had gray eyes. Miriam's Gerosha Prime Ciem 2 look featured her initially wearing a red shirt and black cap. This was her basic look throughout Gerosha Prime. For Despair Gerosha, her skin was darkened as efforts were made to blend Stan and Shalia's genes. She retained her trademark look with a black hat, a joke on her being a hacker. However, the rest of her wardrobe underwent changes. She was seen in promo art for this version wearing a black shirt with a Snakes on a Plane-inspired design on it. Having her be a fan of Snakes on a Plane became a running gag from that point onward. Miriam was shown initially as a Teen Sim in the 2007 Classic Gerosha version of Ciem. Her and Candi's skintones were darkened even more for this edition, though not as much as for Comprehensive Gerosha. Her personality became more formalized, as did the iconic image of her hiding in a dark room and working behind a monitor while wearing a black baseball cap. She became slightly more sensualized, since it was consistent with the evolution of her personal character. The 2009 version of Ciem 2 showed her as adventure-prone, and also solidified her iconic costume: black shirt, black cap, khaki pants/shorts, white socks, black shoes. She is shown as being slightly less in-shape than Candi, both due to lacking centipede powers and due to getting less exercise overall. In 2010, Classic Gerosha was abandoned in favor of Comprehensive Gerosha. The base narrative for the replacement universe was going to be the novel Ciem: Vigilante Centipede. The new narrative did little to change Miriam's overall iconic image or life's story. However, it did take advantage of new features made available in The Sims 3. After leaving home, Miriam got a set of tattoos. The difficulty with adding tattoos in Sims 2 is one reason that Miriam never considers getting one in previous versions. The 2010 version of Miriam takes her rebellion with the tattoos much further than her more-conservative 2012 Cataclysmic Gerosha counterpart. While Sodality Miriam gets a few tattoos on her chest and arms, the Miriam that was going to appear in Nuclear Crisis was much more willing to experiment with tattooing herself in inappropriate places. Miriam's eye color was changed in 2010 from gray to brown, and has remained that way ever since. Her baseball cap was later defined as being a Detroit Tigers cap, in reference to the similar-looking cap worn by Moki in Hana-Barbera's The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible. Model representation In 2012, the first physical model representation of her came from a photo modified from the collection of British/Indonesian photographer Ardhana Galih Wicaksono, better known on DeviantArt as the user "Maleica." The original artist commented that edits to the originally-donated photo of Nanda Soebaigo were "a bit harsh," but said that the modified look for Nanda served the character of Miriam well.Wicaksono, Ardhana Galih. "A bit too rough..." (post). DeviantArt.com. Monday, December 24th, 2012. 11:07 AM EST. Ardhana also stated that he found Miriam as a character "very interesting." By "harsh," he was referring to how the background was changed radically from Nanda's original. Also, the USB drive Miriam was holding was a cigarette in the original with Nanda. The baseball cap was edited in. She was originally without a hat. The straps on her shirt were painted, making it a tank top. In the original photo, Nanda wore a tube top. The pants were also a different color. Tattoos were from various preset shapes in Photoshop CS2, and were modeled after the tattoos Comprehensive Miriam acquired in concept art for Ciem: Nuclear Crisis. In February of 2015, artist Lee Loo La agreed to have some of her art modified to portray Candi and her sisters, assuming links and credits back to her originals were provided. DozerfleetWiki agreed to promote her brand in exchange for permission to use modified versions of her photos for purposes of giving a non-''Sims'' face to specific characters. This resulted in two edits for depicting Candi, one for Marina, and one for Miriam. Lee's eyes were modified to make her look a little more black and less Asian, and her skin was tanned in all modified images. Use her Lee for all three Flippo triplets helps to add some continuity to their depiction as triplets. See also * Miriam's rapsheet * Ciem * Marina Baret * Steve McLaine * ''Ciem'' (webcomic) * Ciem 2 * Ciem: Vigilante Centipede * Ciem: Nuclear Crisis * Children of Miriam Flippo * Sodality References External links * "Smoking Hot" original print by Maleica at DeviantArt, featuring Nanda with a cigarette rather than a USB drive. * "Dawdling" original photo by Lee Loo La at DeviantArt * [http://bulldozerivan.deviantart.com/gallery/48943144 Sodality 2D concept art collection] at DeviantArt ** Red-Cyan 3D concept art collection ** Green-Magenta 3D concept art collection Category: Flippo family Category: Ciem: Vigilante Centipede characters Category: Ciem 2 characters Category: Ciem: Nuclear Crisis characters Category: Sodality series characters Category: Beheaded females Category: Incarcerated heroes Category: Team Black Rat Category: Team F-Pod Category:Characters